D.C. students try for world record in bubble wrap popping

WASHINGTON — Doug Cohen may be in elementary school, but he knows how to campaign. While running for president at Lafayette Elementary School in Northwest, Cohen had an idea to accompany his candidacy: he and…

Students at Lafayette Elementary pop their sheets of bubble wrap. (WTOP/Andrew Mollenbeck)

WASHINGTON — Doug Cohen may be in elementary school, but he knows how to campaign.

While running for president at Lafayette Elementary School in Northwest, Cohen had an idea to accompany his candidacy: he and his classmates could notch a world record.

“When I was running for president, I was looking through the Guinness Book of World Records, and I found that this was a great one for everyone to do,” he said Friday before the school paused for its record attempt.

The target: bubble wrap. Each person got his or own sheet to fervently pop for two minutes.

The specific record concerned the most people simultaneously popping bubble wrap. A school in England holds the existing mark.

Cohen said he was more excited than nervous as his classmates filed onto tennis courts for the record attempt.

“It was something that everyone could participate in and have fun,” he says of the idea. Something that could “build some school spirit.”

By the final count, 643 people simultaneously popped their own sheet of bubble wrap–enough for a record, if certified.

Volunteers and parents recorded the attempt, not just for posterity but for documentation.

If certified, Cohen can say of his campaign: promises made, promises kept.